Alabama Sky
by teenageddirtbag
Summary: "A teenage boy, lying awake at midnight, under an Alabama sky. That's where this story begins." The history of the Commander Up. Rated T for safety. please read and review!
1. The future is now

**So I noticed that there are a lot of stories about how Taz came to be and how TUp was created starting at the quinceñera, but nothing about Up. After all, TUp ain't TUp without Up! So I'm setting out to change that. This is Up's story and how he became the best commander the GLEE ever had. Enjoy!**

A teenage boy, lying awake at midnight, under an Alabama sky. That's where this story begins.

"_The future is n_-" The boy's viewscreen abruptly turned off. The surly teen, who was only half paying attention to whatever program was on at this time at night, turned his attention back to the now blank screen, studied it for a moment, then resorted to staring out of his bedroom window. He took in the sights of his small Alabama town at midnight; The buildings and streets were dark, even with the flickering streetlights. There was a man holding a bottle and drunkenly stumbling along the sidewalk while three military Jeeps drove by. It used to be rare that Ranger Jeeps drove by, but the Robot Wars had come to the American South and ground units were everywhere now. The teenager had also noticed that more and more Starship Rangers were passing by every day. The boy then looked up at the sky, a haze of pink and grey smoke with little dots in the distance that were supposed to be the stars. The boy had seen pictures of what the night sky had looked like before the war and often dreamed of seeing the navy blanket of stars and planets for himself. He had no idea why the skies had always been so captivating to him. Perhaps it was the freedom, the openness, or the unknown that attracted him. No matter the reason, he stared up at the night sky anyway.

Looking up at things like the night sky was nothing new to this boy. In fact, he did it so often, people began to call him 'Up'. His real name was actually Ulysses Peter Upton, but no one had called him that since he said his first word, which was ironically enough, 'up'. But what really gave him the nickname was not his initials and his last name, but the fact that he when he was little, he was always looking up hopefully at the stairs, at the older children, and at anyone who entered his home. You see, Up was raised in an orphanage, _Saint Frances' Home For Orphaned and Lost Children_ was its name, and had dreamed of getting picked up and taken home by one of the hundreds of prospective parents who came through his orphanage. But as time went on, his friends would get adopted and taken to their new homes with their new families and their lives would turn out perfect. So every time another couple would pass through and play with all the children, Up would get excited and would dream about his new life if this couple chose him. He would stare up at them and smile and try his best to be charming and lovable. It never worked though. Even when there was no one looking to take home a child, Up would look up at the stairs and just wait for someone to come down the stairs, then pick him up, and take him home. Although Up was too young to understand what was truly going on around him, he understood that his mom and dad were on a "vacation", and were never coming back. Everyone in the orphanage understood this and knew where their parents were "vacationing", except for Up. He never knew whether his parents were dead or alive. As he got older, he tried to decide which was worse, having dead parents, or to be dead to his parents. Up could not bear to answer his own question once he realized what he was asking himself.

As far as Up was concerned, his friends died all the time. One day he would be playing his friends; the next, they would be out of his life forever. Everyone got adopted Saint Frances, except for Up. Up was a rowdy child, always getting into trouble, and no parent wants a troublesome child. Therefore, Up was never adopted. In a way it created a vicious circle; Up realized that no one wanted him, so he became angry, and when he got angry, he would get in trouble, and when he would get in trouble, less possible parents would want him, thus making it seem that no one would want him. The circle continued for Up's entire life, until he was about 14. At that age, no one would take him. He was simply too old. Up decided on his 14th birthday that he would live at Saint Frances' until he was in college and allowed to move out to do something with his life, but he had no idea of what he wanted to do. He just wanted to get out of Alabama. However, the day after his 14th birthday, he decided what he wanted to do.

The day after Up turned 14, the Starship Rangers came to town. The Rangers were so strong and brave and everything Up had ever wanted to be. They toured the universe and met strange and exotic creatures. The video they showed was glossy and made the Rangers out to be the greatest people in the world and made the military seem like an easy job. While all of the heroic stories were entertaining to listen to, there were two things that made up Up's mind: all the beautiful vixens they had surrounding the male rangers and a picture of what the night sky was supposed to look like. It looked so large, dark, open, and almost inviting. Up was used to seeing hues of pink and grey as he fell asleep at night, not this dark and starry night. Up wanted to touch it. He wanted to own a star and fly around in outer space. Up wanted to be a Starship Ranger.

Just over two years had passed, Up was now 16 and the Robot wars had gotten worse, but Up's dreams never faltered. If anything, Up's passion for touching the heavens grew stronger and stronger with each passing day. Suddenly, the viewscreen turned back on with words spralled across the screen and with a horrendous alarm in the background.

"Attention citizens of the greater north eastern Alabama, north western Georgia, and south eastern Tennessee areas . Robots have officially invaded the area. The robots have moved from central Alabama and are moving northeast. There is a mandatory evacuation of all the following counties: Jackson, Franklin, Walker, Chattanooga, Dade..." The list went on and on. Luckily, Up did not hear his county, but felt as if he had. Babies were screaming a couple rooms down the hall due to the loud screech coming from Saint Frances' alarm system. He heard nurses and caretakers scurry down the halls to tend to the crying children. Up couldn't take it. He needed to help. "The Starship Rangers are in Douglasville." _The Starship Rangers_, that was it. He thought back to when he had just turned 14 and meet the rangers for the first time. That desire to help and to touch the night sky suddenly overwhelmed him. Without thinking, he grabbed a backpack, stuffed it with necessities and found himself at the ledge of his window. With a heavy sigh, turned around and took one last look at the life he was leaving behind, then jumped.

**So nothing happened this chapter, its meant mostly for background info. Like all my other stories, I probably won't update all that often, sorry. Anyway, thank you so much for reading! I love reviews and pm messages! You have no idea how much they mean to me! **


	2. In a Ghost Town

**I'm back! here's chapter 2**

**This chapter is dedicated to my wonderful soon to be beta, "A Silly Miracle" (or at least I think that's her username, I don't really know...) she's one of my good friends from school and I am so excited to be working with her because she is amazing! so go check her out (she does BTR though, no Starship. but I'm working on her (; ) **

**Enjoy!**

Up had no idea what he was thinking. He had just left his home about an hour ago, but for the first time, he actually thought about what he had just done. He didn't know what direction he was walking, how he would get to the rangers, what he was going to do when he got to the refugee center, or even what time it was. All he knew was that he was going to go to Douglassville to join the Starship Rangers. But even the purpose of this late night stroll was becoming vague. Up wondered what his thought process was when he leapt from his second story bedroom window earlier that night. He even sprained his ankle in the jump; however that wouldn't even stop him. But now, each step pained him more and more as he slowly began to realize that his original goal was impossible. Up was currently sixteen, while the age to enlist was eighteen. The GLEE would want to see important documents, his birth certificate for example, which he did not possess. Even if he ever did reach his destination, he would certainly be turned away. And that was if he was lucky. He would probably be taken or killed by robots before he could get to the refuge center. As the walk progressed, Up slowly accepted that he was a dead man walking.

Although every fiber in his being told him to turn around and go home, he continued on his journey. His muscles ached, his feet were sore, and he was mentally exhausted. Up no longer understood why he was doing this. For what seemed like hours, Up continued walking without a clue as to where exactly he was or where he was going. All he knew was he was in some kind of deserted town. The community had been torn apart by war with its buildings singed and covered in bullet holes. Up crept around the abandoned town until he found a sturdy wall to lean against. He dropped his backpack on the ground and slid down the ruins into a ball on the floor. Then, he heard footsteps in the shadows. _Step, step_

Up froze. He didn't pack any weapons and he didn't think that he could fight off anything much larger than another sixteen-year-old kid. Up reached into his backpack and looked for anything that could be used as a weapon. _Step, STEP_. Luckily, he had found a switchblade on the road earlier that night that he had forgotten about, _STEP, STEP_. He gently took the knife out of its casing and positioned it in his hand. Up could now barely make out an outline of a human body in the moonlight. He could feel his palms sweat as he tightened his grip on the knife, pointing it out in front of him. Up cautiously stepped towards the shadows that concealed the figure as the figure crept towards Up. The shadows shifted as the man crept closer and closer until his face came into focus.

"Well, hi there!" A cheery drawl greeted Up instead of the death threat he was expecting, but Up still wasn't convinced. His grip on his knife tightened. "Whoa there! I'm not here to rob you or hurt you or anything, I'm running away too"

"What makes you think I'm a runaway?" Up growled.

"Your backpack, your lack of protection, extremely determined but scared facial expression," Up slowly lowered his switchblade, "and your fresh limp." Who was this kid, watching him? He seemed to be about Up's age, but had a smaller build. He was handsome with his blonde slightly curly hair and friendly green eyes. The boy wore clothes that looked expensive, even with rips and mud and grass stains and a bright, winning smile that was plastered on his face. "You don't have to worry about any looters, they all left about twenty minutes ago," the blonde kid threw down a backpack and began to search inside of it, "it was good practice though. I mean, if I'm going to become a Starship Ranger, I need to get good at protecting myself. Even though I didn't really fight..." The boy's voice trailed off before exclaiming, "Ah! here it is!" The kid pulled out some athletic bandages, "let me see your foot." Up didn't move. "I get it, your mama told you never to talk to strangers. She taught you well then. The name's Jeremiah Carterson." Up just stared back, "and you are?"

"Up," he grunted.

"Up, huh? Strange name. Whatever, now that we're no longer strangers, let me take a look at your foot or ankle or whatever you managed to injure." Up remained firmly rooted where he stood, "come on now, I won't hurt you big guy." Up finally stepped forward with extreme caution towards Jeremiah who gestured towards a semi-standing bench next to him. Up slowly sat down and stuck his foot out for his makeshift doctor to look at. "Lucky for you, I was studying to become a doctor before I ran away to join the rangers," Jeremiah carefully inspected his foot and asked questions about the pain before declaring that his ankle was sprained. He then picked up the bandages and began to wrap Up's foot while telling Up his life story. Up quickly learned that Jeremiah came from a wealthy family not far from Up's own town; his parents did not want him to join the Starship Rangers because his dad's best friend and his mother's brother both died in the war; he was an only child; went to the finest and most expensive school in the area; and he had just turned eighteen the day before, and that is why he ran away, because he is now old enough to join the rangers. Well that, and the fact that Jeremiah had gotten into an argument with his parents before going to bed that night. Jeremiah was an open book and clearly had no trouble sharing every detail of his seemingly perfect life he had just left behind. The more Jeremiah talked, the less Up felt comfortable. Up had never enjoyed opening up to people and felt just as awkward listening. He felt almost guilty listening to Jeremiah's history due to the fact that he had shared so little about himself; Up had barely even told Jeremiah his name.

Up couldn't take it anymore, "why are you telling me all this?" he finally asked.

"I guess I told you everything because I don't mind sharing. I mean, I never really had anyone to share anything with growing up. Whether it was stories, feelings, or even toys, I've always kept to myself. And honestly, I've always hated it." Jeremiah laughed quietly to himself, "you know, I like to think of myself as an open book shoved in the back of a library that hadn't been opened in over twenty years." Up had no idea what that felt like, but appreciated it all the same.

"My real name is Ulysses Peter Upton. Up's just for short," Up blurted.

"Still a weird name, but I guess Up's an improvement. Is it from your initials or nickname of some kind?"

"Both, I guess"

"You know, I've never had a nickname. I've always wanted one too. It's always been just 'Jeremiah' and I hate it." His forest green eyes narrowed and his mouth now formed a thin line. Up could not tell if Jeremiah was angry or just thinking intensely, "forget Jeremiah! Call me Andy!"

Up was confused, "Andy?"

"My middle name's Andrew and I've always kind of liked the name Andy," the once Jeremiah, but now Andy explained.

"Certainly better than any of my names," Andy chuckled. "Very well then, nice to meet you, Andy."

"The pleasure's all mine, Ulysses."

**thank you so much for reading! I hope to update soon!**

**this is a little late but, **_**Merry Christmahanakwanzanewyear!**_


	3. Traveling

**Hi guys! remember me? it's been a **_**really**_** long time since I've updated, I am really, **_**really **_**sorry about that! Hopefully, this chapter was worth the wait. Again, SO SORRY! **

**hope you enjoy!**

The two boys didn't stay up and chat much longer. They quickly decided to set up camp in the abandoned town and to take turns keeping watch. Andy crumpled up a blanket he had brought and placed it at the head of a make shift bed created from a barely standing bench. Whereas Up sat himself down on the hard ground, for he was chosen to be the lookout first. That meant that Up would be the first one to save both himself and Andy if anyone or anything were to attack them. However, by the time his shift was halfway done, it appeared that he would simply be the first one to twiddle his thumbs for half the night. It was now nearing four in the morning, but Up had yet to go to sleep. He was wide awake despite his lack of rest due to nerves and adrenaline rushing through his body. He knew his shift was almost finished and he would be able to finally go to bed, but from some strange reason, he didn't want to go to sleep. Up was too anxious at the prospect of a robot attacking him, and he didn't know how well this skinny Andy character was equipped to handling physical altercations. Up had rightfully presumed that Andy did not get into too many fights at his elite private school. Up was deeply thinking about every possible scenario that he could encounter on this trip before being abruptly interrupted by slight buzzing. It was only the alarm that Andy had set up earlier on an old watch, but the noise was still able to make Up jump in his current position.

"Mmhh," Andy grumbled while rubbing his eyes, "mornin', or should I say, good night?" Andy chuckled slightly as he rose to his feet. He then motioned his arms to signal that the make-shift bed was now all Up's, "You're turn!"

Up nodded meekly before trudging over to the bench. He didn't really want to go to sleep, nor did he even feel like he even could. He still didn't completely trust Andy, but he was Up's only option if he wanted to get to the rangers safely. Up laid down on the bench and tried to get comfortable. He looked over at his traveling companion and mumbled a "goodnight" before turning onto his side. Up didn't remember anything after that; not even closing his eyes before he went to sleep.

"Good morning!" Up woke up startled to a curly blonde head and to a sing-song greeting, "time to get moving, sunshine!" Up looked around and noticed that everything except for the blanket he was sleeping on was packed and ready for the day. He even noticed that Andy had attempted to fix them some kind of breakfast that consisted of a granola bar and half of a can of sliced pineapple. Up groggily got to his feet as he gathered up the blanket and the two continued on their journey. It wasn't long before Andy started talking again. Up now learned that Andy was studying to be a doctor before running away, had scared away three nannies as a child, had his first kiss when he was only nine and had never stopped loving women since. He had continued on talking about his life for the better part of an hour when he finally turned to Up and said, "enough about me. What about you?"

Up was taken aback by Andy's sudden interest in him, "uhh, umm, well, there's not much to tell."

"Oh come on! Tell me something about you!" Up remained silent. "Alrighty then, not much of a talker now are we? Let me start then; where did you grow up?"

"Middle of nowhere, then take a left," Up answered tersely.

If Andy was annoyed by Up's answer, he didn't show it, "any siblings?"

"None that I know of," Andy subtlety nodded his head in understanding. Up was surprised by this too. Most people would have either laughed because they thought he was trying to be funny, or annoyed by such sarcastic remarks. But Andy, however, became stoic. And so the simple questions began: favorite sport, song, book, movie, player, singer, ect., ect. Up answered each question with more distance then the last. He didn't mind the questions so much as long as they stayed on such a shallow level, until Andy asked,

"Why do you want to join the rangers?" Up froze. Why did he want to join the Starship Rangers? Why did he pack up his belongs and leap from his bedroom window only to leave a note to the nurses and other children? Why?

"Don't know. I wanted to reach the stars, I guess." Up shook his head, "I know it sounds corny but, it's something that I've wanted to do for a while now." Up continued, although he didn't know why. "I couldn't sleep last night, so I tried to watch something on my viewscreen, but the power went out. The last thing that played was a commercial for joining the Rangers. For some reason, the commercial stuck with me as I just looked out my window for a little bit. I then realized that there's a war going on here; I wanted to help; I wanted to protect everyone. Everyone I grew up with, everyone I met yesterday, everyone I had ever known, and even those who I hadn't met yet. And just I knew I couldn't do that from my bedroom." Up peered over at Andy, not even expecting him to have listened to a single word he had just said. However, there was something strange in his eyes that made Up believe that Andy had heard every word and every breath; it even appeared that Andy now admired Up, but Andy still said nothing.

Andy seemed to mentally shake himself before returning to the inquisitive, talkative, and slightly annoying Andy Up was beginning to know, "so, tell me more about yourself."

Now, it was Up's turn to be like Andy and gush about his life. He had never opened up to someone like this before, but he just couldn't help himself. Up went on to talk about his childhood at an orphanage, that no one wanted to adopt him, that he was always in trouble, that he only liked sports, that he never opened up like this, ("You don't say!" was Andy's response to this) and Up even admitted his true age. Up and Andy continued chatting for another few hours before Andy looked down and stopped dead in his tracks. His jaw dropped and his eyes darted around for a few seconds before settling on something far in the distance. Up strained his neck to try to find what Andy was gawking at. Unsuccessful, he turned back to Andy to find a mischievous grin taking over his features. "What?" Up finally asked.

"Well, my friend, congratulations. We made it." Up turned and saw some purple tents in the distance with the GLEE logo on them.

Andy was right, they had made it.

**Thanks **_**soooo**_** much for reading! you guys make my day! don't forget to review please! reviews might make me write faster!**


	4. Documents?

**Hey guys! I am finally back! I'm not really proud of this chapter, but it's been a while and I have begun the next chapter and I swear it's a lot better than this.**

**anywhosers, enjoy! **

Andy raised a finger and pointed to horizon. And there it was. A tent in the far distance with the Galactic League's globe in fist emblem near the top. Beneath it, Up could barely make out the words "refugee center". Up moved closer and stood on top of a nearby rock. Next to the tent, he saw a sign that read _Join the Starship Rangers!_ Up looked back at Andy who was studying his GPS, "three miles away," Andy cheered. Without thinking, Up took off. He ran for two and a half miles straight before stopping to find Andy lagging slowly behind and gasping for air.

"If you're going to be a ranger, we're going to need to get you into shape," Up laughed.

"Whatever, kid," Andy panted once he finally caught up to Up, "I don't really care about that right now. All I care about right now is that we're finally here." The two of them walked the rest of the way and up to the tent that had the very same _Join the Rangers!_ sign pinned to the top.

By the time the boys finally reached the front of the incredibly long line, they were greeted by a stern looking young man who was clearly tired by everyone wanting to escape. Up went up before Andy only to be eyed by the man up and down with a skeptical look in his eye, "Papers?" The man finally asked. Crap. Up didn't have a thing to give him.

"Excuse me, sir," Andy spoke up from behind Up, his voice having a extra hint of sugar in it. "My friend here didn't have any room in his bag, so I held onto his papers for him." Andy then handed official looking papers to the ranger, who briefly looked them over. The ranger stamped the documents, handed them to Up, and motioned for him to move on. When Andy showed his documents however, the ranger at the booth changed his very stoic expression to one of shock. Andy seemed to pay no mind to the ranger's sudden interest in him and shrugged him off as he made his way over to Up. "My family is kind of a big deal," Andy explained, "sometimes people recognize my name. Oh, and you're welcome."

"Yeah, how did you-"

"I may be conceded and talk nonstop 'bout myself, but when someone squeezes a word in, I listen. And you, my boy, said that you didn't have anything to show. Lucky for you, I brought extra documents in case they wouldn't take me because half of the GLEE knows my folks and know that they would never let me join. So therefore, I would lie on these papers and get in. But instead, I ran into you and I listened to every word that came out of your handsome little jaw and put that down." Up just stared incredulously, "so, you are welcome." Up nodded and said a quick "thank you" under his breath.

"Oh, and I almost forgot," Andy continued, "I said you just turned eighteen last month, on the twelfth. So, happy belated birthday."

Up and Andy were led into further into the refugee center and into an area filled with neatly organized tents. Andy was led into one almost immediately while Up had to walk for a long while before being sent into a tent. Inside was a makeshift doctor's office and a man sitting at a small desk. The man who led Up into the tent handed the man at the desk his forged papers, then left. Up almost wished he had that man for he found this new ranger far more intimidating. But Up was a ranger now, he had to get used to men and women like this. So Up took a deep breath, and marched forward to his fate with the GLEE.

**Thanks for reading! Reviews are always welcome here! my birthday is soon, so think of it like a present. haha! but seriously, I swear next update will be better.**


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